TOWSON, Md. – The No. 21/22 Towson University football team, spearheaded by 200 yards receiving by Caleb Smith and three rushing touchdowns from Yeedee Thaenrat, scored a touchdown with 4:54 left to take a 31-24 victory over rival Delaware.
 
With a 24-24 tie score, a 10-play, 62-yard drive by Towson (5-4, 2-3 CAA) ended in a two-yard touchdown by Thaenrat to take the lead vs. Delaware (4-5, 2-3 CAA) for good as the defense held the other way in the red zone.
 
Key Game Stats:

• Towson led 24-14 at the half, the largest lead for the Tigers at the break against a league opponent this season.  Delaware tied the game in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter.  The next drive, the Tigers scored a touchdown and held for the win.
• In a high-scoring game, Towson had the edge in total offense with 453 yards compared to 415 for Delaware.  Much of the difference came from passing, with Towson having 294 yards in the air compared to 240 for the Blue Hens.
• Tom Flacco had a strong day as the Towson field general, throwing 17-for-23 with 294 yards and a touchdown.  His primary target was Caleb Smith, who had a career day with nine catches for 200 yards, the first 200-yard receiving day for Towson since 2016, and a touchdown.
• On the ground, Yeedee Theanrat ran the ball 16 times for 70 yards, scoring three touchdowns to total 12 on the season.  Adrian Feliz-Platt averaged 5.5 yards a carry, totaling 55 yards on 10 rushes.
• Defensively, Robert Heyward tallied up seven tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss.  Coby Tippett forced a turnover on an interception, adding seven tackles.
• For Delaware, Nolan Henderson was 13-for-24 on passing with a touchdown and an interception, also adding 48 yards on the ground plus a score.  Will Knight rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries while Thyrick Pitts caught four passes for 88 yards.  Nijuel Hill concluded with six tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

 
Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: "This was a game we knew we had to win; it's Delaware, it's November.  I'm incredibly proud of my guys.  The heart, the character, the resiliency, the desire and that they were not willing to lay down.  I congratulate Delaware, this was a very hard-fought game, their guys played hard and they are very well-coached.  Our character shined through, not what we do but who we are, I am proud of the young men that represented this institution the right way under duress."
 
How it Happened:

• Delaware started on offense and broke into Towson territory with a Nolan Henderson 22-yard pass to Chichi Amachi.  Later on third and four, a designed QB rush was stopped after one year with a quick tackle from Sam Gyeni.  Delaware punted the ball and downed it on the Towson three-yard line.
• Despite two rushes of 10+ yards from Adrian Feliz-Platt and D'Ago Hunter, a fumble by the latter was recovered by Delaware on the Towson 27.  The Towson defense stood tall with a rush for no gain, an incompletion after a rush from Bryce Carter, then Robert Heyward taking down Henderson for a 12-yard loss on the sack.  Delaware punted for a touchback.
• Towson wasted no time on the next possession: on the second play, a drop off pass to Caleb Smith turned into 22 yards as the junior rolled down the sideline and was hit late for a 15-yard penalty tacked on.  Next play, Tom Flacco fired down the middle back to Smith for 40 yards to set up first and goal on the one-yard line.  Yeedee Thaenrat barreled ahead for his 10^th touchdown of the year, giving Towson a 7-0 lead with 8:13 left in the first.
• Delaware went to the ground over and over again with Will Knight to get to Towson's half of the field.  DeJoun Lee added a six-yard carry, then a QB run by Henderson converted a third and short.  Towson stacked up Delaware on a third and one, but the Blue Hens went for it on fourth down and converted on a direct snap to Lee for three yards.  After a Henderson 10-yard rush and a Heyward tackle for a three-yard loss, a pass to an open Jourdan Townsend for 17 yards resulted in a touchdown, tying the score at 7-7 in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
• Flacco got throwing on Towson's next offensive drive, throwing a pass to Jason Epps for 10 yards on a third down.  Following two penalties pushing Towson back, Flacco, with all day to throw, threw a dart to Smith for 32 yards to convert a set of downs.  Three plays later, again Flacco, rolling out to avoid rushers, lightly arced the ball Smith, who spun away from a tackler to get into the end zone for an 11-yard score.  Towson led 14-7 with 9:06 left in the second quarter.
• Henderson found Thyrick Pitts for passes of 41 and 14 yards, then added a pass interference penalty to get to the two-yard line.  Henderson rushes himself, diving for the pylon and scoring to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:51 left in the second quarter.
• Feliz-Platt bolted forward on a 17-yard run to begin the following drive, then three plays later, Flacco moved several yards in the pocket, then found Shane Leatherbury next to the sideline for 25 yards.  Two passes to Daniel Thompson IV and the Tigers were inside the three.  Thaenrat rushed twice, scoring on the second attempt for a 21-14 Towson lead with 1:37 left in the half.
• Down came Delaware as Henderson rushed for 22, then a pass to Pitts for 19 got the Blue Hens inside the Towson 40.  The defense stood tall and got the ball back: an incompletion off a rush from Malik Tyne, a sack by Heyward and finally, Coby Tippett picking off Henderson to give the ball back to the Tigers with 54 seconds left.
• Flacco led the charge down the turf, going a 10-yard pass to D'Ago Hunter, a 19-yard catch by Smith, a Flacco rush for 17 yards and a pass interference call to get to the Delaware seven.  Towson was stopped from there.  Aidan O'Neill knocked down the 24-yard field goal to make it 24-14 Towson at the break.
• Towson started with the ball in the second half and got downfield with a couple of 22+ yard passes, complete to Leatherbury and Smith.  But on Smith's catch, a fumble was recovered by Delaware on its own 25.  The Blue Hens scored in three plays, a Townsend 54-yard catch, a Lee rush for no gain and a Knight 21-yard rush for a touchdown.  Towson still led 24-21 with 11:23 left in the 3^rd.
• Thaenrat rushed three straight times to begin the next drive for 14 yards, but he fumbled on the final carry, with Delaware recovering.  The Towson defense held Delaware to a three-and-out in its own territory, forcing a punt, with was fair caught on the 10.
• Again Flacco looked to Smith for a big play, finding the Albany, New York native on a 20-yard pass across the middle to convert a 3^rd and 13.  Feliz-Platt made a couple of nice rushes for 14 yards combined and a first down, but the Tigers did not go further.  Shane McDonough punted 47 yards to the Delaware 22.
• On third down, Henderson kept the drive going three times on third downs: a 14-yard throw to Amachi along the sideline, a 14-yard pass to Pitts down the middle to get near midfield and a nine-yard scramble to the sideline. Into the fourth quarter, Henderson kept completing passes to get into the red zone.  On 3^rd and two on the Towson nine, Delaware's pass was incomplete.  Jake Roth converted the 26-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-24 with 11:08 to play.
• Hunter began the drive with a 38-yard kickoff return to jump start the Tigers.  On third down, again Flacco went to Smith for a 14-yard completion and a first down.  Down the field the Tigers came with a couple of rushes and two more passes, then a pass interference penalty got Towson to the Delaware two-yard line.  Thaenrat punched in the touchdown next play, putting Towson back ahead 31-24 with 4:54 left in the fourth.
• Delaware first started to pass, with a one-handed reception by Gene Coleman II for 15 yards extending the drive, then two plays later, Knight got room on the right side on a rush for 35 yards.  On third and three, Chizurum Umunakwe stopped Knight for a loss of one yard.  Henderson ran all around the field, including nearly back on midfield.  He got back to the line and went for the first, diving and coming up short by a yard.  Towson took over on downs.
• Rushes for six yards by Hunter and five yards by Thaenrat gave Towson a first down, enough to run out the clock.  Towson won 31-24.

Inside the Numbers:

• With a 24-yard field goal to end the first half, Aidan O'Neill tied the all-time record for field goals by a CAA player with 59.
• Caleb Smith earned his first career 100-yard day on receiving.  It is the first 200-yard receiving game for a Tiger since Christian Summers had 232 receiving yards vs. St. Francis on Sept. 10, 2016.
• Yeedee Thaenrat earned his third game with at least three rushing touchdowns with this season.  His 12 rushing touchdowns on the season is tied for ninth all-time in program history.
• This is the third-straight victory for Towson over Delaware at home, including wins in 2017 and 2015.
• This is the third time this year where Towson earns a victory over a team either ranked or receiving votes in the FCS rankings at the time, the other two being Maine and The Citadel.

Up Next:
Towson hits the road for the next two games, first on Long Island on Saturday, Nov. 9^th at 2 p.m. against Stony Brook, ranked No. 20 in the STATS FCS Top-25.
 
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